Galicia’s famed pilgrimage attracts filmakers

3D 'Apostle,' Estevez's 'The Way' shot in Santiago

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain — With its cobbled alleys, old convents and Gothic-Baroque cathedral, Galicia’s Santiago de Compostela seems plucked, Brigadoon-style, from the Middle Ages as Catholic pilgrims mill outside the place where St. James the Apostle is allegedly buried.

In its ancient pilgrimage route, the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James), Galicia has discovered a 1,196-year-old movie brand.

With Rome and Jerusalem, Santiago was once Christendom’s most important city. Santiago Cathedral’s extraordinary Portico de la Gloria, which Estevez aims to film, ushered in Gothic architecture.

For Estevez, “Way” coincides with a global “spiritual crisis.”

“The Camino’s principal facet is its spiritual component, a rich well of personal stories and tales of living together,” Cabaleiro adds.

This year has already generated four Camino movies: Estevez’s Sheen starrer “Way,” “The Apostle,” “Where Is Happiness?” and Roberto Santiago’s “Road to Santiago.”

“Way,” “Happiness” and “Road” — it’s no coincidence — are journeys of self-discovery.

But how can producers’ monetize the spirituality of the place? There have been some bestselling books — German TV presenter Hape Kerkeling’s Camino diary “I’m Off Then” sold 3 million copies while Paulo Coehlo’s “The Pilgrimage” is an international hit.

That base will grow. Via Google Travel, the Xacobeo 2010 org will launch the biggest campaign ever for this unique destination.

“There’s probably $50 million worth of locations along the Camino,” Estevez says, adding that the vistas from O Cabreiro, a mountain village, are “absolutely extraordinary” and that Muxia’s Atlantic-coast Nostra Senora de la Barca Sanctuary, where “Way” ends, is “spectacular.”

Written off as Spain’s deep north, the Camino’s growing recognition may allow Galicia to walk into the future with a spring in its step. It may also reboot the economy.

The local tourist org calculates that 9 million visitors in 2010 would hike tourism’s contribution to the Galician GDP by 1.5%. Galicians — including Sheen and Estevez, who are of Galician heritage — share a sense of mission.

“This is a place people ought to see,” Estevez says. In film and in larger terms, the Camino is one way forward.